Chapter 4: Entanglement (Part 2)

Looking at the swarm of mosquitoes again, Guo Shier also felt a chill run down his spine. He cried out, “I’m dizzy… Mosquitoes… big spotted mosquitoes…” They were no different from the big spotted mosquitoes in his past life, just much larger in size.
The handsome old man sneered, “What big spotted mosquitoes? You’re uninformed. Those are black-spotted mosquitoes!”
Halechi, hearing Guo Shier’s screams, was overjoyed. He had never realized before that Guo Shier could be so endearing. He quickly shouted, “Shier… save me!”
Yao Zebusong felt a chill in his heart. He knew Guo Shier and Halechi were together. Only then did he remember that Halechi wasn’t easy to provoke either—he was with Qi Wuzhen as well. Offending him meant offending Qi Wuzhen as well, which made him feel frustrated. The three of them joined forces and fled into the distance.
No one dared to stop and chat; they could only talk while running. Guo Shier asked, “How did you end up here? Strange… how did you attract such a huge swarm of mosquitoes…”
Halechi, feeling aggrieved, said, “I’m so unlucky… Ah…” His scream was so horrible that it not only made Guo Shier’s hair stand on end but also made the handsome old man shiver. It sounded like the agonized cry of a beaten donkey, evoking an indescribable sense of misery.
Yao Zebusong laughed awkwardly. He had a significant role in causing Halechi to emit such a horrible scream.
Guo Shier asked, “What’s wrong? Hurry up and tell me!”
Halechi blurted out everything in a rush, describing the entire ordeal in great detail, especially his encounter with Yao Zebusong, which filled him with indescribable anger and sorrow. When Guo Shier and the handsome old man heard “those damned things wouldn’t let go, the mosquitoes wouldn’t let go,” they almost died of laughter.
Guo Shier laughed loudly, “Yao Zebusong, your father is really talented… How did he come up with such a name for you? Haha, hahaha!”
Yao Zebusong was surprised. “This name… is ancient runes, the pronunciation of lightning. It’s a name reserved for noble ancient families! Damn it, the pronunciation of runes has degenerated over time. The elegant and simple ‘lightning’… that’s my real name!”
Halechi said angrily, “That’s right! He acted like he was crazy, chasing after me and attacking me…”
Guo Shier and the handsome old man exchanged a glance and burst into laughter again. Enraged, Halechi slammed his fists on the top of the altar and shouted, “Damn it! He kept chasing after me and slashing at me… Then, we encountered an even bigger swarm of mosquitoes, so… you see…”

Guo Shier laughed so hard his whole body trembled. He tried to hold back, but couldn’t resist and said, “This thunder… May heaven strike me dead… Haha.” He almost rolled around on the altar—so amused was he.
Halechi cursed, “You’re thunder, you’re lightning, but what does it matter to me… Keep chasing me!” His peach-colored eyes turned red.
Puh! Puh! Haha, hahaha!
Even Yao Zebusong couldn’t help laughing. There was no way—he just couldn’t help but laugh at Halechi’s abused face. This guy had been tormented by mosquitoes and his companions alike; his suffering was extreme.
The handsome old man kept shaking his head and said, “This idiot… the eighth-level altar…” He had never reached the eighth-level altar in his life, so he despised this guy deeply. He had no awareness of being a high-level professional and didn’t understand how this guy had advanced so far.
Guo Shier wiped away his tears. It seemed he had never cried in his life, yet this guy made him laugh until he cried.
Seeing Guo Shier wiping his tears, Halechi said, “You don’t need to pity me…”
Guo Shier sat on the altar, utterly speechless. He pointed at himself and then at Halechi in a dazed manner, inwardly wailing, “What kind of person is this… Am I supposed to pity him? Has this guy been scared silly by mosquitoes?”
The handsome old man collapsed on the altar, his body shaking violently. He couldn’t even speak—he was simply too amused. He had never seen such an extreme case before.
Yao Zebusong was now completely unfazed. Then Guo Shier said, “Yes, I don’t pity you… Ugh… Hee hee…” Heaven only knew whether he was crying or laughing; anyway, it wasn’t a normal sound.
Halechi thought, “Laugh, laugh! I hate you to death!” He said, “Shier, I know you’re the best to me…” His peach-colored eyes blinked wildly, his charming gaze making everyone feel disgusted.
Guo Shier immediately used the altar to move away a distance, thinking, “No wonder Yao Zebusong wants to beat you—even I can’t help but want to hit you!” He didn’t want to waste words with this guy and changed the subject, saying, “So many mosquitoes… Um, maybe a million. Running away like this isn’t a solution.”
Yao Zebusong said, “With the strength of the three of us, how many can we kill? These mutated mosquitoes aren’t very strong, but there are so many of them—it’s troublesome to deal with… By the way, you have many Spirit Beasts; they should be able to handle this.”

Guo Shierou shook his head and said, “That won’t do. These are black-spotted mosquitoes. If their sharp mouths pierce you, they can absorb your soul. Although Soul Beasts can eliminate them, it will still cause significant losses.” He was now extremely stingy; even if it meant losing dozens of Soul Beasts, he wasn’t willing to do it. Those were the best sacrifices. Though he had many Soul Beasts, he couldn’t just use them like that.

Yao Zebusong said, “Do we have to chop them down one by one? That will exhaust us to death! Even if I can kill hundreds at a time, facing millions of mosquitoes… I don’t think we have the ability to deal with them.”

Halechi finally breathed a sigh of relief and stopped discussing the topic. He said, “I don’t know why, but we just can’t get rid of these mosquitoes. They’ve been chasing us for days. I really can’t figure it out.”

The old man couldn’t hold back anymore and cursed, “You idiot! Do you think you’re a female mosquito? With your intense soul fluctuations, it’s no wonder the mosquitoes keep chasing you!”

Halechi snapped, “Who do you call an idiot? You worthless spirit priest! I can crush you with one hand!” Unexpectedly, this angered Guo Shierou. After all, Guo Shierou had never regarded the old man as a spirit priest but rather as a kind of mentor and friend. How could he allow someone to insult him?

Guo Shierou roared, “Shut your mouth! If you talk nonsense anymore, I’ll throw you into the swarm of mosquitoes!”

Halechi didn’t expect Guo Shierou to get angry. Spirit priests had no status, and they were usually not allowed out by their masters, let alone speak freely, because they weren’t human but spirit priests. So Guo Shierou’s reaction was beyond his expectations. He was instantly stunned and stammered, “You… you… he… he…”

Guo Shierou impatiently said, “What ‘you’s’? No wonder Yao Zebusong wants to beat you up. If you talk nonsense anymore, I’ll beat you too!”

Halechi was utterly depressed. When he first met Guo Shierou, his strength was far greater than Guo Shierou’s. But now, he was a level lower in terms of altar power. Even if he wanted to fight desperately, he needed that strength first. He was so angry he couldn’t speak and could only keep pounding his altar.

Yao Zebusong laughed heartily, delighted. “This guy really deserves it. I agree we should beat him up!” he said maliciously.

The old man shook his head and retracted his head into his altar, thinking, “Two idiots!” He was too lazy to pay attention to Halechi and Yao Zebusong.

Halechi was crushed by Guo Shier’s scolding, feeling utterly defeated. He had no choice and couldn’t retort. He knew well the severe consequences of doing so—Yao Zebusong was already hostile toward him, and if Guo Shier got angry too, the two of them working together… At the thought of this, he shuddered. If faced alone, he might still be able to hold his own, but with two opponents, he would truly be trapped among the mosquitoes and have to fight for his life.

Yao Zebusong asked, “Shier, what do you plan to do?” Problems needed to be solved. Being chased by mosquitoes nonstop wasn’t feasible either; running endlessly like this would leave him with nothing in this continent.

Guo Shier said, “I have a plan, but I need your help.”

Before Yao Zebusong could speak, Halechi became excited. All these troubles stemmed from those damned mosquitoes. If there was a solution, why would he still be angry? He hurriedly asked, “What’s the plan? Tell me quickly! I’ll definitely cooperate!” No humiliation could compare to being chased away by a swarm of mosquitoes. He hated those mosquitoes that kept pursuing him.

Yao Zebusong nodded and said, “Let’s hear what the plan is.” He remained calm and added, “If there are any shortcomings, I might be able to offer suggestions.”

Guo Shier replied, “Okay.” One person’s plan may be short-sighted, but two can come up with a better one—a truth he understood well. He said, “I’ll use the Soul-Calming Cauldron to capture… little by little, the Black Spotted Mosquitoes. Of course, I can’t stop to collect them; I have to do it while flying. You two must protect me—just keep the mosquitoes at a distance.”

Yao Zebusong was incredulous. “Is it that simple?”

Guo Shier retorted, “How complex do you think it is?”

Yao Zebusong said, “I thought you’d set up some talisman arrays or something. I didn’t expect…” He mused to himself that if the Soul-Calming Cauldron could be used, it might indeed work to capture these mosquitoes.

This task was simple. Killing all those mosquitoes? Neither Halechi nor Yao Zebusong was confident about that, mainly because there were too many Black Spotted Mosquitoes to eliminate completely. But protecting Guo Shier was much easier. It was just about keeping the mosquitoes away from him—something even these two masters could handle.

Halechi said straightforwardly, “Alright, do as you say! Shall we start now?”

Guo Shier released the Soul-Calming Cauldron and turned around. “Elder Shuai, help me control the altar.” It had to be Elder Shuai who controlled the altar, as he was now facing backward, opposite to his flight direction.

The three altars were arranged in a triangular formation, with Guo Shier’s altar at the front, and those of Halechi and Yao Zebusong slightly behind. However, since they were facing a swarm of black-spotted mosquitoes behind them, the actual formation was Halechi and Yao Zebusong in front and Guo Shier at the back.

Once they were ready, Guo Shier said, “Alright, let’s slow down, hehe.” He was happy—such a large swarm of mosquitoes, all mutated symbolic worms. Although there was less flesh, their spirits were still strong, making them excellent food for spirit beasts. Anyway, he didn’t plan to keep that many mosquitoes.

The three slowed down, the buzzing sound growing louder as the massive swarm of black-spotted mosquitoes approached.

Despite their strong abilities, seeing the dense swarm flying toward them still made their hearts tremble out of instinctive fear.

Guo Shier said, “Maintain a distance of a hundred meters. As soon as the mosquitoes get too close, strike and kill them. Let’s begin.”